A DVOC AC Y I N AC T I ON
Malpractice Costs Will Soar I F N P S A R E D E E M E D O N PA R WITH PHYSICIANS Writte n b y Pet e r Le one and C raig M. Wax, D. O.
Dear Administrator Verma, Deeming non-physicians to be essentially equal
there is no return. There is both a patient and phy-
in training and experience to physicians amounts to
sician expense that has not been calculated.
a dangerous experiment on American patients. It is
Likewise it is irrational and counterproductive
improper and unethical for the federal government
to pay a minimally trained person the same as a
to be making such decisions regarding the scope of
highly trained, experienced person. If the reim-
practice of medical professionals.
bursement is the same for poor quality as for good
I have spent over 40 years as a complex litiga-
quality, but the poor quality costs less to provide,
tion specialist, handling over 35,000 malpractice
the entities that degrade quality have a competi-
claims. It seems the law of unintended consequenc-
tive economic advantage. Medicare’s existing price
es is at play. Currently the “Captain of the Ship”
controls are already impeding patient access to
doctrine limits liability to allied health personnel.
high quality care and should not be exacerbated
It also limits professional and legal liability costs.
by additional flawed policies that further disregard
Placing nurse practitioners and physician assistants
important differences between practitioners.
on par will indeed lead to greater claim frequency
The bottom line is that patients’ lives are at
and increased legal costs. Rates for all providers will
risk. The federal government should follow a policy
increase. In fact underwriters will increase offices
of “first do no harm.” It violates this principle to
with PA’s and NP’s. We could see malpractice costs
impose top-down edicts declaring that non-physi-
for internal medicine practices rise from $1-3,000
cians are qualified to practice medicine. I urge the
to $9-12,000 per allied health professional .
federal government to reject such policies. 1
We saw the law of unintended consequences occur with EHR and once down that “rabbit hole”
1 0 | J A N UA RY/ F E B RUARY 2020
Peter Leone President, Edge Professional Liability Services https:// edgepro.net/
